Dennis Miller as a host

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Have to say I enjoyed Dennis Miller's swan song episode tonight and his conversion with Jay Leno about the film Marty. Loved some of their insights into this movie and why they, and especially Leno, love this film.

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Have to say I enjoyed Dennis Miller's swan song episode tonight and his conversion with Jay Leno about the film Marty. Loved some of their insights into this movie and why they, and especially Leno, love this film.

(...seems just as Dennis hit his stride, his gig is over)

It was nice that Jay was serious and enthusiastic about his selections and had relevant comments about the 3 films they discussed. That's really all you can ask from a guest host.

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I can't say I ever cared for Mr. Miller. I thought that his evolution from wise-cracking SNL snark (in the same vein as David Spade) to Nietzshe-quoting cultural critic rang a bit false. I was never sure who he was trying to impress: the entertainment liberal establishment he increasingly came to despise or the National Review crowd. Neither group has accepted him and probably never will. Having said that. . .

I have no problem with TCM mixing it up with guest hosts. Dennis and I are about as distant on the political spectrum as possible. I don't require political litmus tests when it comes to entertainment (within reason, of course.) I do expect hosts to offer something more than what I can already get off of Wikipedia, though. I'd like for them to reveal something about themselves, in relation to the film at hand (e.g., the effect when first viewed, how their views have changed or been enhanced on subsequent viewings, a character they identify with or against, etc.) Or, else, why have celebrity hosts?

Using that yardstick, I found Dennis's (and Jay's) take on A Face in the Crowd absolutely bizarre. They talked more about the cultural and social mores of the 1950s ("they couldn't show a married couple sleeping in the same bed!") than they did about the main, disturbing themes of the work (not to mention the elephant in the room.) They actually alluded more to the "dark side" of populism during their discussion on Sullivan's Travels (an example of the "lighter, uplifting" side.)

How anyone can watch AFITC these days and not make certain observations and connections is beyond belief. There is a chance, of course, that Jay and Dennis actually do NOT make those connections in their head, but this would be ludicrous to accept. Perhaps they felt like leaving it to the viewers to draw their own, startling conclusions. I don't think so. There's a third alternative: maybe they were being facetious, mildly self-defensive (both as celebrities who have inspired hatred in significant swaths of the public), and snarky. "You think I'm a self-centered, attention-seeking ****? Meet Lonesome Rhodes!" Why, pray tell, did they pick this iconic film only to give it such short schrift?

I look forward to Dennis's return someday. Perhaps he can pick Network and then talk about how TV shows used to have very long intro credits and theme songs.

I assume the purpose of this series is to try to reach new/casual/interested viewers for TCM. Expecting some deep / high intellectual / sociological film analysis / criticism in these intros is a stretch. During the introductions they both mentioned that they did not want to spoil the film by discussing the specifics of the films too much.

If you never liked Dennis Miller then there's a high chance your expectations are sure to be met.

In the introduction to A Face in the Crowd, Jay explained how Andy Griffith could play the role because he was an experienced comedian instead of 'just' an actor, something Jay was familiar with. This is an observation from Jay's personal perspective on the film.

If you watched the introduction to Marty you would have seen Jay Leno relate the characters to people he knew growing up in New York City, including his mother and other Italian friends and peers. This is a personal revelation about Jay and how it relates to the film.

Although the discussion was certainly trying to be humorous and entertaining, I did not find Jay Leno's approach to be be overly facetious / snarky.

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Have to say I enjoyed Dennis Miller's swan song episode tonight and his conversion with Jay Leno about the film Marty. Loved some of their insights into this movie and why they, and especially Leno, love this film.